GEORGETOWN RIDING A CONFIDENT ROAD

By FRANK LITSKY, Special to the New York Times

Published: March 22, 1982

PROVO, Utah, March 21—
Two months ago, the Georgetown basketball team was riding a 13-game winning streak and had a 14-2 record. Then it lost three straight Big East Conference games, to Syracuse, Connecticut and Providence.

Instead of folding, the Georgetown players put up a sign in the dressing room that is still there. The sign read: ''We Can Elect to Go Nonstop to New Orleans From Here.''

New Orleans is the site of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's semifinals and final next weekend. Georgetown will be there.

The Hoyas will be one of the Final Four teams because they captured the West Regional here Saturday with an almost-frightening 69-45 victory over Oregon State.

The Beavers were intimidated from the start by Pat Ewing, Georgetown's 7-foot freshman center. They seemed lost against a team that was quicker, bolder and smarter. And they seemed helpless against a team that made 76.3 percent (29 of 38) of its field-goal attempts, the best performance in the 44-year history of the N.C.A.A. tournament.

Ewing is four inches taller than Charlie Sitton, the Oregon State center. As talented as Sitton was, he could not jump with Ewing, force him away from the low post or deny him the ball. And Sitton received little help underneath.

The Louisville team that Georgetown plays Saturday at New Orleans has more height than Oregon State, and it has more strength on the backboards. But even if it neutralizes Ewing, it must contend with the quickness of the other Georgetown players, notably Eric Floyd. Floyd Gains Award

Floyd, the 6-foot-3-inch all-America guard, contributed to Oregon State's downfall with 22 points, mostly on open jump shots and driving layups. He was voted the outstanding player in the West Regionals.

It was a show to warm any coach. But although John Thompson called Georgeton's performance ''probably the best by any team I've ever coached,'' he did not claim the national title, or even perfection.

''I can find fault,'' he said. ''All I have to do is look at the film. We are not finished. We've got two more games to play.'' ''We've got to work on things that didn't go good,'' said Floyd. ''They broke our press. We missed open jump shots.'' Georgetown, with a 29-6 record this season, has won its last nine games -three in the regular season (the closest was 12 points), three in the Big East tournament (the closest was 14 points) and three in the N.C.A.A. tournament (the closest was 8 points).

That sounds as if Georgetown has momentum. ''Everybody in the Final Four has momentum,'' said Thompson.